Something Happened
by blackcoffee1
Summary: Snape is faced with the task of turning Voldemort's only heir into the perfect ruler. Unfortunately, his heart, soul and a hot-headed girl get in the way. SSOC
1. Prologue

Prologue: The Woman Who Started It All.  
  
Hogwarts School of Witchcraft and Wizardry was suffused in a warm Scottish glow as day dawned and assorted members of the faculty ambled and flew back from their holiday homes before the start of term, refreshed and revived. Easter bunnies hopped metaphorically amongst the crocuses and the whole castle was the picture of sunbathed idyll as it very often was.  
  
All that is, except for a few dank rooms located in the bowels of the building where the gloomy atmosphere was matched only by that of the potions master who resided there. He always dreaded the start of term, as did many of the staff, though none where quite as adept at expressing their views on the matter as Snape was. He assumed that that obnoxious twat Harry would be returning to complete his OWLs, and passing with flying colours no bloody doubt. It was only because his own life hinged on the fact, that he didn't pray for Voldemort to kill the arrogant boy. He ground his teeth together, splattering red ink all over Hermione Granger's extra credit assignment.  
  
He glanced down and rolled his eyes. Well really, did she expect him to get down on his knees or something? He supposed he had to admit that she was bright, but only in a tedious textbook kind of way. Then again, Snape longed for the day he could have a pupil with half the talent of Miss Granger become a member of his house. Merlin knew Slytherin needed some good publicity for a change and even a bookworm like Hermione would be a welcome addition to that inbred pool of perverts.  
  
He sneered. All he needed now was that carrot topped coattail flyer Weasley to come and join the party and his day would be complete.  
  
There was a light tapping on his door.  
  
It was one of those cold Mondays. The type that looks like it's going to be warm and bright in the morning as you get dressed but turn out to be absolutely freezing once you step outside. It was on one of these Mondays that Gwen was expelled from her suburban grammar school.  
  
What would her parents say when they found out? She could just imagine the heart-wrenching look of disappointment on their faces. Although she had never been very close to them, she had always strove desperately for their approval and praise. She could feel her last connection to her parents slipping slowly from her grasp and there was nothing she could do about it.  
  
She knew that what the Head had done was extreme, but her parents would automatically assume the worst as they always did, afterall she wasn't in possession of a perfect track record as it was. Oh God, what was she going to do? There was no way she would find another school this late in the year. Not unless some kind of miracle happened, and she had given up on those a long time ago. Gwen felt her future dreams slip slowly from between her fingers like thick oil, her chest heaved as she gasped for breath.  
  
Several girls she didn't recognise passed her in the hall, sending vulture- like glances at her over their shoulders before turning to one another and whispering cruelly as their high shoes clicked on the wooden floor. Gwen wiped her damp nose unappealingly on her sleeve, eliciting loud satisfying squelch.  
  
Picking up her bag she slumped into the girls' toilets and let the tears come.  
  
Janice Silverine was cooking a fish stew for her family's supper. Carefully, she chopped some carrots as she hummed along to Bruce Springsteen on Radio Two. She was just moving on to the potatoes when the doorbell rang. Wiping her hands on her plastic floral apron and then straightening her skirt, she opened the front door.  
  
In front of her a middle aged, slim woman with a stern face and wearing a strangely designed emerald green dress, was waiting to be let in. Under any normal circumstances she would have opened the door widely and offered her guest a cup of tea, but this was not someone she recognised as a part of her close-knit community. Janice systematically ran through all the people she knew. Women from aerobics...no, not one of them...someone from the local primary school where she was governor...no...the woman from the corner shop.....no...the mother of one of Gwen's friends...no...no...no...eventually she drew a blank. Frowning slightly she asked the woman if she knew her from somewhere and was confirmed in the fact that no, she did not.  
  
Three very strong cups of tea and a quarter of a packet of rich tea biscuits later, Janice Silverine looked at the woman before her in a new light. Things like this just didn't happen in Greenwich. Everything is nice and ordered, everyone trims their hedges and says good morning. No scandal. No extremes. Just nice suburban life. Nice. Just how she liked it. She took a long sip of her fourth cup of tea. Will wonders never cease? She smiled slightly to herself, and then realised that the other woman had begun to speak again.  
  
"Of course, because this is such short notice I have taken the liberty of bringing all that she needs here with me." She gestured to a minute trunk on her saucer, "I am afraid that it is of grave importance that she joins the school. However, if you should decide not to let her enrol then we will have no choice but to respect that decision. Although you would both be in great danger if you did so." Minerva met the eyes of the woman in front of her. She seemed to be coming round. "I am sure that you know what I am implying."  
  
The woman appeared to ignore the only-just-veiled warning, "Well, this is most unusual...but I think I know what you want to achieve." Janice smiled ruefully, "Of course I will have to ask Gwendolyn if she wants to go and it will ultimately be her decision." Her face fell slightly. "However, it will be a shame to see her academic mind go to waste...she could have gone far in this world you know." Janice seemed to be slightly wistful.  
  
"I have no doubt of that Mrs Silverine." Minerva, stood to leave. The two women exchanged farewells but the distance between the two of them was amazingly apparent, the woman before Minerva didn't live up to the woman she had been expecting to see. It seemed that the muggle world had done her more harm than good; in more ways than one. Minerva hoped that the girl would be more adaptable.  
  
"I hope to see you soon, then, Ms. McGonnagal." Janice escorted her guest to the door. Minerva pressed a thick cream envelope into the hands of the other woman who clutched her arm just before she reached the door, "Take good care of her won't you?" Janice's face held a look of pleading, pain and heartbreaking acceptance. Minerva nodded and left.  
  
As she transfigured back into a cat at the end of the road she doubted whether she would ever see the woman again. She just hoped the loss was not in vain. 


	2. One

1: Blast From the Past  
  
Gwen arrived home on time. She had gone up to the sixties concrete shopping centre up the road before returning home to give her time to clear her head; and also make it look like she hadn't been sent home early. She had her week's allowance burning a hole in her blazer pocket so she bought some trashy teen magazines and a huge supply of tacky pic'n'mix hoping to drown her sorrows. Ignoring the looks of the cashiers, no doubt suspecting her of truancy, she paid and went in search of something to make her feel better within the glossy pages.  
  
Meanwhile, Janice was taking two paracetamol with her tea. She was an intelligent woman. She knew what this was all about, and she had hoped that what had happened in the past wouldn't catch up with her. She was wrong, of course. Hazily, she began to remember that fateful day...  
  
She had been younger then, much much younger. Thick, dark brown hair reached her waist, her slim figure was as yet untainted by the birth of a child and she was undeniably attractive. However, the attraction of the opposite sex to her was not entirely due to the way she looked, she was in no illusion that she was the best looking of her friends, but there was a burning passion within her; a passion to break free of her working class background and achieve her full potential. She possessed one of the greatest minds her school had ever seen and this was made all the more potent by her drive and ambition. But one thing held her back. Her father. Stuck back in a time when women knew their place, he refused to let her go to University, he didn't want her to make anything of her life. It was unnatural, he said, for a woman to work amongst men as an equal. She would make a mess of things. She wasn't capable.  
  
Janice indented the paper where she was trying to write a report for the medical council as she thought about her father. The stupid old fool. If only he knew what she was capable of.  
  
In a fit of uncontrollable rage she had stormed from the house, striking her mother down as she tried to stop her, pleading for her to stay. There was somebody waiting for her outside. She recognised him from the betting shop she worked in on Sundays. He spoke to her. She remembered him describing how awful it would be to live in a cage. To have your potential overlooked. She had told him her situation. He had taken her under his wing, taught her things, shown her things.  
  
Janice's hand shook violently and she dropped her pen, trying to fight back the images which were now crowding into the front of her mind.  
  
Of course, she had relished the way he made her feel powerful, but she refused to do any harm to others. Weak he had called her. He had given her so much, couldn't she even do this one thing in return? His voice was seductive, it wore away at her until she could deny him no longer. Finally, things came to a head. She had seen the terror she had helped to cause, old fires had risen within her. This wasn't who she was, she didn't want this, she never had. She left him. But he found her. Found her and made her do one last thing. Deliver the most precious of packages...  
  
A key fumbling in the lock made her jump from her seat. A thin sheen of sweat had formed on her face. Hastily she splashed cold water on her skin, cleaned her hands and wiped her eyes as her daughter shuffled in dragging her school bag behind her.  
  
Gwen noticed the cream envelope on the dresser as she entered the hallway of their large suburban home. Letting her bag and blazer slip to the floor, she idly flipped it over and opened the seal. Curious, she read.  
  
Of course, the wax seal and thick paper should have set the alarm bells ringing, but today was not a good day for being perceptive. She re-read it. Okay...She didn't really know how to feel. Was it a prank? No, too original to be one of her cousin's and too good to be one of her friends. Silently she sent a prayer to whoever was up there asking for this to be real as ridiculous as it was. After all, she no longer had a school to go to, and her mother need not find out about her expulsion if she just accepted. Relief washed over her so fast she didn't realise her mum slipping into the hall to watch her. "Hello darling. Good day at school?" Gwen whirled around a huge grin threatening to take over her face.  
  
"Have you seen this mum? A School of Witchcraft and Wizardry and they want me!"  
  
"I take it you want to go then?" A teasing glint came into her mother's glittering eyes.  
  
Two days later Gwen was standing on platform nine at Kings Cross. She was loaded down with her entire wardrobe, about twenty paperbacks, a huge box of cosmetics, a dozen or so hugely heavy hard back text books and reams of thick cream paper, not to mention all the snacks that her mother had given her in case she didn't like the food there. She felt adult, independent and like making a fresh start.  
  
She felt nervous.  
  
The station was just normal. Where were all the other pupils? Sometimes she saw what looked like another student but when she looked again they were gone. Her mother had left some time ago, wanting to leave before she burst out crying in front of her only daughter and made her feel even worse than she already did.  
  
The letter had told Gwen that she should wait on the bench on platform nine, and someone would come to meet her. She and her mother arrived a quarter of an hour early and even after many elaborate farewells there was still no sign of her escort. Eventually her mother had had to leave. Gwen glanced around, spotted a chocolate dispenser and got a fruit and nut. Returning to her seat she sat down to wait. Her sense of elation was beginning to fade. She checked her pockets and realised she didn't have enough money for a return fare home.  
  
Harry and Ron arrived at Kings Cross Station, excited about their fifth year at Hogwarts but nervous about the looming OWLs. Harry was anxious about what the new year would bring after the events of the last. Mrs Weasley bustled them all onto the platform, reminding them insistently about keeping warm and eating properly.  
  
Ron tugged at Harry's sleeve, "What's he doing here?" he gestured in the direction of a tall dark haired man in black muggle clothes striding towards them. Harry looked worriedly in the direction of the other Weasley's; they couldn't be in trouble already surely? But then again, knowing Snape they probably were. The two friends ducked behind a pillar before the man had a chance to spot them.  
  
Severus Snape was muttering obscenely under his breath. Dumbledore knew he hated going out in muggle clothes. Why did he have to deal with the obnoxious little brat? He could see her, of course. Totally oblivious to what was going on around her. Stuffing her fat little face with chocolate. Snape shuddered at the thought of another annoying pupil to deal with. Hufflepuff, most probably, by the look of her.  
  
As he got closer he could see that she was patently wearing the school uniform for the whole world to see. He was just about to make a scathing comment when she glanced up and saw him. Damn, he must be losing his ability to creep silently up on people, he thought.  
  
Gwen noticed him striding towards her because he was so obviously different to everyone else on the platform. There was something compelling about his dark eyes and she felt a shiver go down her spine as she looked at his long- fingered hands and sultry mouth. As he drew nearer she looked up to get a better look at him. Tight black jeans and lose black cotton shirt made him look even leaner. Gwen felt slightly guilty about giving an older man the once over but that didn't stop her from taking a good look. His nose was a big too large for comfort.  
  
"Miss Silverine?" his silky voice broke into her thoughts, "I am Professor Snape. Do you want to sit here staring all day or shall we board the train?" Gwen felt her face heat up, she was checking out a teacher! Oh well. She gave him a charming smile and got up to follow him thinking that this was perhaps not the best first impression one could make.  
  
Snape looked disgustedly at her piles of luggage and promptly shrank it to the size of a matchbox. Blinking in shock, Gwen picked it up and put it into her blue clutch bag with the box her mother's visitor had left. This was not going exactly as she had expected.  
  
Ron had his confused face on again. Harry shrugged; he had no idea what was going on either. They had just seen Snape go up to a girl in the Hogwarts uniform and escort her onto platform 9¾. She was new, which was odd because they didn't think that Dumbledore accepted people other than first years, let alone halfway through the year. Harry was grinning slightly, after Cho had turned him down last year his ego had taken a severe knock, but now it was mysteriously inflating again.  
  
Ron jabbed him sharply in the ribs, turning he noticed Mrs. Weasley giving him an exasperated look and tapping her watchless wrist in impatience.  
  
Platform 9 ¾ was a hive of activity. Students of all shapes and sizes were scurrying frantically between piles of luggage, parents and boarding friends, emotions ranging from the ecstatic to the positively miserable.  
  
Gwen looked to the man at her side. He was regarding the scene with a considerable amount of distaste. She grinned; he was cute when he scowled. She shook her head trying to clear her thoughts; this was not the time to be mooning over a teacher.  
  
Snape, drawn out of his thoughts by the whip of hair against his arm, turned sharply towards the girl by his side. Before speaking he took a moment to regard the girl who Dumbledore no doubt had some mysterious reason for making him pick up. Unextraordinary looking; shoulder length dark blonde hair, china blue eyes, cherry snubbed up nose, trim curvy figure...not exactly ugly but not head turning either, certainly nothing out of the ordinary. But there was something, something almost radiating from her that spoke of control and power. An ease with who she was, unfathomable complexities that on a closer look made her...Snape released a breath he did know he had been holding. She reminded him of someone. There was a slight twitch at her lips; Snape felt that he could feel her mind working as her eyes flickered to and fro, taking everything in like he so often did. An outsider giving her nothing more than a glance would consider her ordinary and perhaps slightly naïve. Snape thought no such thing.  
  
"Take your bags to a porter and board the train with as little fuss as possible." He spoke under his breath as though not wanting to attract attention. He propelled Gwen in the direction of an elderly, shrunken porter before heading off in the direction of a tall man with long flaxen hair.  
  
"Charming." Thought Gwen as she regarded the short, slightly orange man before her who looked like he had just spent two weeks in the bath. He looked no more capable of looking after her luggage than touching his elbow with his tongue. She shrugged at him and patted the matchbox-sized cases in her bag apologetically before boarding.  
  
Once on board Gwen wasted no time finding a compartment to sit in. Most were full of at least four students but one had only one occupant.  
  
She was a girl of around Gwen's age. She had waist length mahogany hair and hazel almond eyes. Her complexion looked slightly Mediterranean and she was lying on a seat flicking through a magazine. Gwen entered hoping she wouldn't mind sharing.  
  
"Hi. I'm Gwen..."  
  
"S-susan." She took her feet hastily off of the chair as if she was being rude. The two girls looked at each other. An awkward silence built up, the other girl was clearly very shy. She half concealed her face behind the magazine and Gwen stared out of the window. It seemed as though she didn't quite fit in here.  
  
Once off the train, Gwen found herself drowning in a mass of students all either greeting friends they hadn't been able to find on the train or hurrying off in different directions. There was a cacophony of sound, everyone was pushing, everyone knew where he or she was going. Gwen felt herself being drawn further and further into the crowd.  
  
"Good afternoon Miss Silverine." She jumped, Snape was practically on top of her; she had not heard him approach in the crowd. He held a hand out to her, "Please follow me, the headmaster wishes to speak to you before dinner."  
  
Gwen inclined her head at him and gracefully placed her hand in his, feeling very much like a little lost child in the street who had just been found by a policeman. Anyone who may have been observing this exchange would have assumed aliens had visited Snape in the night because as far as they were concerned he was acting uncharacteristically pleasant. 


	3. Two

2: Curioser and Curioser  
  
"Chocolate frog."  
  
A solid stone statue of a majestic dragon swung silently to one side as Snape hissed the sugary password. Slowly they ascended into the headmaster's quarters. Gwen moistened her lips nervously as a long slender hand gestured for her to enter and followed her silently in.  
  
The headmaster's office was surprisingly spacious for what appeared to be a statue-guarded broom cupboard from the outside. Dumbledore greeted his two visitors with warm smiles and offered them each a glass of brandy. Gwen thought that Snape was just a little too eager to drink it as he placed the empty glass back on the desk and sat down a split second later. Gwen remained standing, not really sure what she was supposed to do.  
  
"Sit down, my dear." Dumbledore's eyes twinkled enthusiastically as he regarded the girl in front of him, our warrior princess he thought chuckling slightly to himself.  
  
Gwen took a sip of the brandy, relishing the fiery tendrils as they slipped through her veins and eased her mind. She sank a little further into her over-stuffed chair and waited.  
  
"I should imagine that all this is something of a surprise to you," his voice took on a serious note, "But I am afraid that the worst has yet to come. You see, it goes something like this..." Dumbledore refilled Gwen's glass from an ornate decanter as he described the rise and fall of Voldemort. "But that is not all. When Voldemort was at the peak of his power, around sixteen years ago, he took it upon himself to seduce an extremely powerful, yet highly vulnerable, young witch. That witch was, is, your mother."  
  
Gwen blinked, what was he trying to say? Who was this Voldemort guy?  
  
"Which makes you Voldemort's one and only heir." There was a long and uncomfortable silence. Dumbledore seemed a little lost, as if he were feeling his way, "Obviously this entails certain...duties which you must carry out, and of course the followers of your, biological, father will expect you to behave accordingly." Dumbledore hated being so blunt about such matters but he thought that, considering the circumstances, the girl would appreciate him getting straight to the point.  
  
Gwen nodded slowly, "Thankyou for telling me, Headmaster."  
  
"I am afraid that that is not all." Dumbledore cleared his throat, "I would be very grateful if you were to...assist me, that is the other side of the coin, in our inquiries." Gwen knew what he was saying. A huge load that she hadn't noticed settling over her evaporated leaving her slightly dizzy. Silently she thanked god that he hadn't pushed her aside as the enemy.  
  
"A double agent." She smiled, "Who's Q?"  
  
Dumbledore smiled in return, grateful for her choice to join and not the slightest bit confused about her quip.  
  
"I am afraid that you are taking this all too lightly." Gwen jumped, she had forgotten that Snape was hiding in the shadows, "I hope you realise the delicate balance with which you are faced. After all, you hold in your hands not only your own fate but also the fate of many others." His tone of voice made Gwen think that he was considerably concerned about his own future being in her hands, "This is an awesome responsibility and one which," he turned to Dumbledore, "I do not think that she is fully prepared for." Snape had been present for the entire discussion and from the very moment Voldemort's name had been mentioned he realised who it was that the girl had reminded him of. That calm self-assurance, that self-contained power, he should have known. And now, faced with this small blonde, he felt vulnerable, weak and angry.  
  
"Ahh, Severus. I was wondering when you would join the conversation." The headmaster beamed sedately, "You see, our princess will not be alone. You shall train her."  
  
Snape froze behind Gwen's chair.  
  
"Come now Severus, don't look at me that way." Gwen tried to discreetly look at the expression on the face of the man behind her but it was impossible to do without craning round. "After all, what better task to secure you in His favour?"  
  
Snape's emotions were running away with him. Fear – for his life if he got it wrong or if He was toying with him as He so often did. Anger – at Dumbledore's assumption that he would go along with his schemes as well as anger at being completely at the mercy of some jumped up child. And lower down, much lower, the anticipation of having an intelligent mind to mould without constraint. Of course, he revealed none of this in his facial expression. One of the few benefits of being a spy.  
  
"I am sure that Voldemort will get in touch with you soon. No doubt he will be anxious to see how his daughter has grown." The headmaster gave Gwen a grandfatherly look, a slight mist over his eyes betraying his true feelings.  
  
"For now however, I wonder if you will be so kind as to escort Miss Silverine to her dormitory Severus? She will of course be a member of Gryfindor House."  
  
Snape looked sharply at the headmaster, "Gryfindor House?"  
  
"You heard me correctly Severus. Harry and his friends should consider Gwen as a normal member of their house so that she is able to befriend them." Snape sneered. "I can see that you are upset not to have such an asset in your own house Severus, but rest assured that you will see much of the beautiful Miss Silverine in the months to come."  
  
Snape swept out of the room, pausing only the lightly hold the door ajar for Gwen as she pulled herself out of the headmaster's chair, which seemed to have taken an inhuman hold of her behind, and sashayed after him.  
  
The headmaster poured himself another large brandy as the pair left his quarters.  
  
Gwen tiptoed up the stairs leading to Gryfindor Tower behind Snape. It was all she could do to stop her shoes from clacking loudly against the echoey stone floors, she wondered if Snape's feet actually touched the ground or whether he was just gliding silently along.  
  
The Fat Lady greeted Gwen with a curious look but when she noticed Snape her face cleared and she curtseyed as much as her frame would allow before gliding open for her. Gwen tried to smile back at the portrait, but Snape was already disappearing into the darkened common room.  
  
He led her up the heavily carpeted common room, to the girls dormitory before whispering in her ear, "The bed at the back near the window is yours. You'll find your luggage in the chest at the foot of the bed..." and just when she thought she couldn't stand anymore silken threads slipping into her mind, "...Goodnight Miss Silverine."  
  
Gwen whipped round to face him, only to find that he had gone. Gently she felt the warm patch on her ear where his mouth had been.  
  
Once in bed, she lay for a while thinking over the events of the day, it certainly had been, well curious was an understatement. But most curious of all was the way she felt when Snape whispered in her ear.  
  
She shivered, but not from cold. Before she could dwell anymore on the subject, she fell into a deep, exhausted sleep. 


	4. Three

3: Friend or Foe  
  
Monday mornings were Hermione's favourite time of the week. She always felt eager to get back to her lessons, and the reluctance of her friends always mystified her. Pushing the sheets off she wriggled to the end of her bed to get her uniform for the day. A further advantage of this hour was the fact that almost the entire dorm laid in, leaving the room beautifully empty for her to read lazily while getting ready without the incredulous glances of her peers.  
  
When she lifted her head she was greeted with a sight that shocked her enough to stop her current train of meditative thought. There was someone in the end bed. She could just make out a curled lump with blonde hair tangled up in the sheets that had been vacant for four years. Hermione blinked, she was sure that no one slept there and yet how could someone get into their dormitory without the headmaster being aware of it? Thoughts of Sirius Black came tumbling frantically back into her mind as she reached for her wand.  
  
The blonde head rose off the pillow. Grinning drowsily it croaked forlornly. It cleared it's throat; "Hi." It said, still grinning. Gwen sat up, pulling the sheets up around her shoulders, "I'm Gwen, I'm new...and I'm not really a morning person." She laughed hoarsely. Hermione just looked at her suspiciously. "Could you tell me where the bathroom is so I can change back into Dr. Jeckyll?" Hermione regarded the intruder with scepticism; she had never been one for literature but the reference was strangely reassuring. Her inbuilt manners, the result of years of tuition from her grandmother, took over and she led the way to the nearest bathroom, making introductions as they walked.  
  
Gwen slipped thankfully into the bathroom; the other girl was definitely not giving off happy vibes. But then again, she was like that first thing in the morning too. She looked in the mirror at her reflection. Boy was she looking rough. Taking out her toothbrush she began to get ready, afterall your first impression may be your last impression as her mother was fond of saying.  
  
It took her until she reached for the soap in the shower to realise that she was supposed to have magical powers. Living in a muggle world, she had never really tried to do anything by magic because she had known that there was no such thing. Not only that, but there had been no accidents where sparks flew out of her fingers and she accidentally did magical things either, thank god.  
  
Praying that there hadn't been some terrible mistake, she put her hand over the soap on the floor of the shower and willed it up into her hand. It just sat there, disdainfully staring up at her.  
  
Gwen tried again, attempting to visualise the soap flying. Suddenly, it jolted upwards and shot past her hand only to fix itself onto the ceiling instead. She sighed in relief; there was magic at least.  
  
No less than half an hour later, Gwen had it all worked out. It had taken her a while, but she was now reaping the benefits of a bit of concentration. After making a pink sponge wash her in the shower, she got out and conjured her hairdryer into the room, powering it with magic. She cleansed and applied some basic makeup before emerging from the bathroom, unable to resist a proud smile spreading across her face. Happily she tripped down to the dormitory to get changed.  
  
Meanwhile, Hermione was filling Lavender and Parvati in on 'the new girl'. There were ecstatic that someone new and exotic was in their dorm, after all, they had had to put up with Hermione's cultivated squareness for four years.  
  
Humming something gaudy, Gwen made the door to the dorm open before her. Lavender and Parvati squealed as Gwen entered smelling of roses and jasmine, 'Show off," Hermione muttered.  
  
"Hermione!" Gwen beamed, "Aren't you going to introduce me to your friends?" Hermione opened her mouth to speak but Lavender and Parvati were already introducing themselves.  
  
"I'm Lavender - "  
  
"And I'm Parvati."  
  
"Do you want to come to breakfast with us?"  
  
"We can introduce you to the rest of the house!"  
  
"It's so exciting to have someone new come to Hogwarts!" the two girls chattered away to themselves, not seeming to notice Gwen's absence, as they headed for the bathrooms. Gwen was left alone with Hermione.  
  
"Phew!" Gwen rolled her eyes at the other girl, "What a pair!"  
  
Hermione smiled and turned around to pull on her robes. Gwen took out a tie and some woollen tights. She grimaced, ugh what a horrid uniform!  
  
Hermione was just beginning to think that perhaps the new girl wasn't as bad as she had first thought when she turned around to find her rolling up her skirt to above knee-length and singing the first chords of 'Baby One More Time."  
  
Gwen laughed at Hermione's expression, a full-bodied laugh that made Hermione smile against her better judgement, "I'm sorry, this uniform makes me feel a bit like Britney Spears, what do you think?" Slipping into a pair of black suede trainers, she twirled on the spot and followed Hermione down into the common room, laughing to herself.  
  
Harry and Ron had spent most of the night discussing who was going to be on this year's Quiditch team, Harry sharing with him his hopes to be Captain. Of course, they also spent a long time discussing the mysterious new pupil who Snape had greeted on Platform Nine and they hadn't seen or heard of since.  
  
"Probably his daughter or something, she looked a bit shifty to me." Ron screwed up his face, "But then again, is Snape capable of getting a daughter?"  
  
Harry laughed, "No! Ewww, just the thought of it!"  
  
"Imagine him trying to get a girlfriend!" Ron snorted, "Just think what his chat-up lines would be like!" he put on a very bad fake deep voice, "Would you like to come back to my lab?" he raised his eyebrows in an exaggeratedly flirtations gesture. Both boys burst into hysterical laughter.  
  
"Seriously though, I didn't like the look of her. Why wasn't she brought here in the first year?"  
  
"Maybe there was a mistake."  
  
"Dumbledore doesn't make mistakes. Not unless he was trying to keep her out."  
  
"Why would he want to do that?"  
  
"Well did you see her Harry? I mean her nose is so turned up it practically joins her eyebrows! She had Slytherin written all over her." Ron made the word seem filthy as he spoke it.  
  
"Did she? I thought...well I thought that...that she looked, well, nice."  
  
"Nice? What happened to Cho?"  
  
"Well, she wasn't interested was she?"  
  
"Hello Harry. Hello Ron." The two boys turned around in their seats to see Hermione, closely followed by Gwen.  
  
"Hullo Herm...oh, it's you."  
  
"Ron! Where are your manners?"  
  
Harry smiled shyly at Gwen, "Hullo."  
  
"Gwen, this is Harry, and the rude one's Ron. Ron, Harry, this is Gwen. She's a new addition to our house." Hermione spoke with the commanding tone of one making it clear that Gwen was to be accepted without any fuss.  
  
"Pleased to meet you." Gwen caught Harry's eye and smiled at him from under her lashes. Harry went red and sunk back into his chair so she couldn't see him. Ron turned and scowled at him.  
  
"Gwenny!" Lavender and Parvati swirled into the common room. "Come down to breakfast with us!" they linked their arms through each of Gwen's and dragged her down stairs, chattering away as they did so. Gwen had only a split second to send an amused look in Hermione's direction, who smiled back in return.  
  
The portrait closed behind them, "Blimey Hermione, that's the first time you've smiled properly since Viktor left." Ron looked confused, "And look at him!" he pointed at Harry who was smiling blissfully, "What's got into him?!"  
  
Hermione giggled, "It must be love at first sight!" She pulled at the two boys' arms, "Come on let's see what the rest of the house makes of her."  
  
'The rest of the house' was soon won over by Gwen's charms. The boys liked her easy flirtations and the girls did too. Her quick wit, ready smiles and relaxed laughter brought round even the most reluctant pupils. Except Ron, of course. He couldn't see in her what the other Gryfindor boys did; she wasn't even good looking. He scowled stubbornly.  
  
Gwen was having the time of her life. She had already taken a fancy to Harry and now that she was seated in the middle of the Gryfindor table she was spotting many an eligible bachelor, so many in fact that her she had completely forgotten the enigmatic Professor Snape.  
  
"Hermione? What lessons do we have today?" Gwen absently took some more eggs from the pile in front of her.  
  
"Oh." Hermione's face clouded momentarily, "I don't know if you'll be having the same classes as us, afterall this is technically your first year." She had a point, Gwen may have mastered magic but she had no idea about what the rest of the school had learnt in the past four years. Her face fell.  
  
"Fear not, Miss Silverine." A tall stern faced woman dressed in emerald green robes placed a hand on her shoulder, "You shall be with your fifth year friends for all lessons. Here is your timetable." Gwen turned around and beamed at the woman behind her. "I am your Head of House. You may call me Professor McGonnagal."  
  
Gwen grinned, "Thanks Professor." She gratefully took the timetable offered to her as well as the slight reassuring squeeze on her shoulder from the maternal older woman.  
  
Once everyone was settled and munching cheerfully away, the headmaster stood up to make his announcements for the coming term. "Welcome back." His eyes glittered over each house, "There are a few announcements to make before you head off to your lessons. Firstly, we have a new pupil come to join us this year, Miss Silverine would you stand please." Gwen stood up, trying not to blush as all eyes turned to her. A table to the far left was whispered excitedly.  
  
"Thank you. I am sure you will all give her a warm welcome." Gwen sat down thankfully. "All pupils please note that the Astronomy Tower is out of bounds due to repair work and as usual the Forbidden Forest is completely prohibited for all students." He glanced at two redheaded twins on the Gryfindor table, "Thank you, you may return to your breakfasts."  
  
The elderly Headmaster sat down shakily and the pupils started to leave for their morning lessons. Hermione dragged Gwen out of her seat, eager not to be late for the first lesson of the new term as well as take some guilty pleasure in having someone other than Harry and Ron to sit next to. 


	5. Four

4: The Colour of Magic.  
  
Gryfindor had Charms with Hufflepuff first thing on a Monday. And Professor Flitwick was in for a surprise. Gwen, it seemed, didn't have a wand. "Didn't you get one from Ollivanders?" Hermione whispered to Gwen when Flitwick had his back turned.  
  
"Who's Ollivander?" Gwen was getting increasingly worried. She was going to look a complete fool in front of half her year. Great.  
  
"Right class. This term we will begin by learning some charms which will help you in your Defence Against the Dark Arts lessons." He took a tiny shirt, presumably one of his own, from under a book and showed it to the whole class. "You will see that you each have a single glove in front of you."  
  
Gwen was purposely keeping her hands under the desk.  
  
"The Rigidus Charm will render the item completely immovable for at least three minutes. This is a very useful charm if you are trying to escape someone or render his or her wand hand useless without doing any harm to your opponent. Please get into pairs and don the gloves before you for your friend to practice on."  
  
There was a scuffle as the class put the gloves on their non-wand hands.  
  
"Now. Repeat after me. Rigidus-totalus."  
  
Hermione pointed her wand at Gwen's hand. "Rigidus-totalus." Gwen felt the material quiver and after a couple of moments go rigid. She smiled up at her friend.  
  
"It works!" Gwen was amazed at the effect of the words although slightly disconcerted about the inability to move her hand within the glove.  
  
"Do you want to try using my wand?"  
  
Gwen frowned. She didn't want to break her friends wand...afterall she didn't know how to use one...but she did want to try out the spell.  
  
The glove had gone limp again, "Hold out your hand." Hermione held it out with trepidation, Gwen licked her lips, and here goes nothing she thought. Concentrating on her friends hand she murmured, "Rigidus-totalus."  
  
Hermione feel to the floor with a thud.  
  
Gwen felt bile rising in her throat and tears pricking at her eyes, Hermione. Hermione. What have I done? Gwen clutched at her throat desperately willing her friend to her feet.  
  
"Clear the way now, come along." Professor Flitwick looked at Hermione through his glasses and shook his head. Looking up at Gwen he spoke with a hint of awe in his voice, "I don't know how you managed to do this at your age, have you been reading up on the subject?" Gwen shook her head numbly. "This is a very advanced spell... But don't worry my dear," he patted her side in comfort, "It's nothing that can't be fixed." A crowd had gathered around and were looking at her with mixed expressions of amazement and fear. "Perhaps you should let me take a look at your wand my dear. There is a chance that it may be faulty."  
  
"Um..." Gwen swallowed back a rising sense of dread, "I – I don't have one yet."  
  
Flitwick looked to Gwen's tear stained face and back to the body on the floor. "I think we had better go and see the Headmaster, hmmm?"  
  
Gwen nodded biting her salty lip and followed the little man out of the room as the class broke out in fervent whispers as they watched the body of Hermione float out of the room towards the infirmary. Her perfect features turned to stone.  
  
Dumbledore had known that her powers would be great but he hadn't realised just how untamed they would be. No doubt the whole school would soon be talking about her, and he didn't know if all that talk would be good. He let out a long calming breath. The rest of today's lessons would have to be missed, of course. Hastily he made arrangements for the other Professors to be informed of Gwen's absence though not the reason behind it. He ordered the crumb-scattered plates to be taken away and another pot of tea to be brought up.  
  
Turning to the slightly calmer girl, he spoke softly, "My dear, would you kindly deliver this letter to Professor Snape for me as you return to your dormitory? I believe that he is in the dungeons." He wrote a brief note, folded it, sealed it, and handed it to Gwen over his desk.  
  
"Of course, Headmaster." As Gwen stepped onto the stone staircase leading from the Headmaster's study she heard him say 'Please sit down Professor, we have grave matters to discuss...' before the door shut behind her.  
  
Severus was working in the private lab behind his classroom. He had no lessons first thing on a Monday morning, which was just as well because he wasn't a morning person at the best of times and Mondays were his least favourite day of the week; they meant he had to put his research away and get back to attempting to fill empty heads with knowledge they would forget as soon as they left his presence.  
  
He paused for a moment. Relishing the silence that the dungeons allowed him. He smirked, safe in the knowledge that no student in their right mind would dare to venture down here of their own free will.  
  
He turned back to his experiment. It had turned a deep beige, perfect. Deftly, he filtered off three vials and began to take notes.  
  
The rest of Gryfindor trooped into double History of Magic alongside the equally reluctant Ravenclaws. Everyone had been eager to hear the news about Gwen over their Irish stew lunch but the novelty had worn off when they discovered they had Professor Binns next.  
  
Hermione had recovered quickly and anxious not to miss any further classes had returned to the Great Hall for lunch after only a short stay in the infirmary, the spell had required no more than a simple antidote to restore her and luckily there had been some in ready supply. She had thought that once everyone found out about what Gwen had done they would be horrified. Turn against her even. But strangely, it had only made them more interested in the mysterious new girl. Fred and George seemed to be particularly interested and they went off with some of the older boys nudging one another and winking.  
  
Harry, of course, thought he had found his soul mate. He sighed. She was clever, cheerful, attractive and prone to strange power-outbursts. They had so much in common. Ron gave him a disgusted look.  
  
"For Merlin's sake Harry, you barely even know her. She's probably really horrible once you get to know her..." Hermione rolled her eyes; there was no way that Ron was going to convince Harry that Gwen was anything less than an angel.  
  
Gwen was lost. Surely Dumbledore had known that she wouldn't know her way to the dungeons? Why hadn't she asked him for directions? Thankfully, Gwen had a rather thorough knowledge of Gothic horror films. Well, thorough enough to know that the desperate heroine always finds herself trapped in the dungeons...and the dungeons were always down a long damp, staircase.  
  
Just like the one that was now staring her innocently in the face, infact.  
  
Snape's experiments were not going as he would have liked. He had thought that by adding a few drops of dragon's blood the potion would gain the potency it needed. However, there was still something missing...something a dragon couldn't possess....  
  
Lost in thought he twirled his quill around in his fingers absently.  
  
The door at the back of the classroom was closed. Gwen chewed the side of her lip thoughtfully. Should she knock? He was a teacher after all. Then again, she was the daughter of Voldemort – would He knock? She thought not. Undecided, she knocked briefly to give a bit of warning and strode straight into the back room.  
  
The second the knob started to turn, Snape whirled around ready to attack whoever was fool enough to disturb him with a mouthful of insults and sinister looks.  
  
Eyes as black as a crow in the night sky locked onto crystalline azure.  
  
"Sorry to disturb you Professor," she smiled sedately, keeping eye contact, "The Headmaster asked me to bring you this." She held out the folded parchment.  
  
Snape narrowed his eyes, he was doing his best 'Nasty Professor Snape' look but she just wasn't cowering like she was supposed to, damn her.  
  
Gwen noticed the complex apparatus out of the corner of her eye. Just as Snape was about to snatch the note from her hand, she turned smoothly to the side and peered at the coloured liquids travelling slowly through the maze of glass tubing.  
  
Carefully, she reached out a hand to run over the wide bowl of a flask containing a deep burgundy fluid. It felt warm to her touch as she gazed at it.  
  
"Do you know anything about Potions Miss Silverine?" Snape was by her side, looking at her with interest.  
  
"Nothing." Her fingers carried on exploring the equipment.  
  
He sighed. "Nothing? What about Charms? Arithmancy?"  
  
She shook her head.  
  
"Transfiguration?"  
  
"Nope."  
  
"Herbology?"  
  
"Professor," Gwen turned around to look at Snape, "I don't mean to be rude, but wouldn't it be easier if you just assumed that I know absolutely nothing about magic? It was only a week or so ago that I found out magic existed at all."  
  
Snape sat down heavily in a dark leather chair by his cold hearth. He had had an owl this morning from Lucius;  
  
"I am coming to Hogwarts to collect the girl at 12 o'clock this Sunday. You will deliver her to our Lord. L. M."  
  
He snorted quietly. Short and sweet as ever Lucius, he thought bitterly. Who knows what 'his Lord' would do if the girl didn't meet his standards. And if she knew no magic...  
  
"Give me the note."  
  
Gwen was just about to hand it over to the brooding figure in the armchair before her, when she paused.  
  
Tilting her head to one side and narrowing her eyes quizzically, she asked "Whose side are you on? That of Dumbledore or that of my father?"  
  
Snape snorted more loudly this time. He should have known she would get straight to the point. He ran a hand through his long hair as she sat cross-legged in the chair opposite his.  
  
"A very good question Miss Silverine." She rested her chin on her hand and regarded him silently. "One to which I am not sure that I know the answer. Certainly, your father uses me as he pleases whenever it suits him, and I, of course, am always at his beck and call..." He ran an absent finger over the mark on his arm, thankfully covered by long black sleeves. "However, Albus also finds me useful...when he has need of information about the plans of the other side...but he has been very good to me...better than I could have hoped..." his eyes clouded over, as if they were looking at something far away in the distance, "...but if I had to choose between sides...if my life or that of someone I loved was at stake...I'm not sure that I could trust myself to make the right decision..." his breathing became so shallow that Gwen couldn't be sure that he was still alive except for the obviously living emotion in his eyes.  
  
She tried to sort through this new information. He was in a similar position to her really. At some point she would have to choose between blood and the right thing to do. Though he evidently had a much clearer idea of the perils that lay ahead for them both.  
  
She shivered. How could he live down here?  
  
Something cold and hard nudged against Snape's hand, bringing his eyes reluctantly back to focus. Looking down he saw a short, unpatterned glass filled with a dark liquid hovering expectantly next to his hand. Gwen smiled at him when he looked up at her frowning, "Thought you might need a drink." She sipped at a similar glass filled with a creamy beige liquid.  
  
Tentatively he lifted the glass to his lips and tasted...surprisingly...a very fine brandy. "Did you...?"  
  
"Uh-huh. I hope you like brandy, it's the same one we had in Dumbledore's office, and you look a bit like a brandy person." She saw him look at her glass, his expression repulsed, "Baileys – I didn't really like the brandy." She wrinkled up her nose in distaste.  
  
Snape swallowed. Where had those glasses come from? He didn't own any like that and he was pretty sure that the other staff didn't either. He didn't even know what Baileys was.  
  
"H-?" he coughed. He hadn't realised just how dry his throat had gone until he tried to speak. "How did you do this?"  
  
Gwen tucked her hair back behind her ear, "I sort of got a picture of what I wanted in my head and just willed it to appear...it's all a bit vague really," she laughed, "Just like magic!"  
  
As soon as Dumbledore had called him, Ollivander apparated to the Hogwarts gates.  
  
Performing simple magic without a wand was something all powerful wizards and witches were able to do, but performing complex charms at the age of just sixteen was totally unheard of. And very frightening.  
  
Scurrying up the stairs to the Headmaster's office he shuddered to think what Albus wanted him to do.  
  
Hermione was getting anxious. She was trying to revise for the OWL's but she couldn't help thinking about what was happening to Gwen. Since Charms she hadn't seen her all day, or heard any news about her, and it was almost dinnertime.  
  
Savagely stroking Crookshanks, she pondered over what it would be like to have a friend to confide in. Of course, she could talk to Harry and Ron, but there were some things you just couldn't talk to them about. Girl stuff. She sighed as she caught sight of herself in the mirror. No matter what she tried she just didn't feel comfortable with the way she looked. She imagined what it would feel like to have the ease of self that Gwen had. The way she walked and smiled were so naturally charming and relaxed; she wanted to, but it was impossible to hate her. Women and men alike were instantly won over, briefly she contemplated what it would it would be like to posses that sort of power.  
  
She bolted upright and paced the dorm. Where was she? Dumbledore wouldn't have expelled her surely? After all, she had recovered and Gwen was inexperienced. What if she was too embarrassed to show her face again and had just left? No, that wasn't like her.  
  
'How do you know?' a voice in the back of her mind demanded, 'You've only known her five minutes!' But Hermione felt like she'd known her a lifetime and she hadn't ever been known to rush into things as important as friendship.  
  
The growing weight of dread on Snape's shoulders had lifted and left him with a slightly light-headed feeling. The natural magic the girl possessed really was astounding and went far beyond the simple magic the average student of her age was by now able to perform. She was capable of conjuring anything she had experience of, and with very little effort. In fact, she had already conjured about twenty items, big and small, and she wasn't even breathless. In fact she was grinning in a most smug manner.  
  
The note that Dumbledore had sent him only increased his sense of serenity. He was giving him the chance to cultivate this talent after school. The cover-up being that she needed help catching up with what she had missed over the past four years. Though why, under any normal circumstances, Dumbledore should choose him over Minerva was beyond him. Snape trusted in the fact that the headmaster's word was rarely questioned, everyone would assume that whatever the reason, all would work out well in the end.  
  
Gwen was currently working on her transfiguration skills, turning an unsuspecting clock into first a pair of pink gloves, then a chair and then a teddy bear. Snape looked up from his copy of The Daily Prophet. He wasn't really reading it of course, who could read while possibly one of the most powerful witches in history was performing right before you're very eyes? No he was merely giving her the impression that as of yet she had done nothing particularly astounding in his eyes; he was trying to prevent her ego from becoming inflated with self-importance. When the time came she would need to follow his orders without the minutest flicker of hesitation. Having said that though, he still could not resist stealing a look.  
  
Gwen stood before her hoard of mismatching items, head tilted to one side, wondering what to produce next. The room seemed suddenly silent when her head was not full of thoughts, ideas and excitement. All that could be heard was the crackle of the candles dotted round the room and the distant echoes of activity somewhere far away above them in the castle, she couldn't even hear the occasional rustle of Snape's paper as he read it...  
  
She went very still, breath catching in her throat. Moving only her eyes she could scan very little of the room, but she dared not move any other fibre of her being. Her body was taut with fear, Gwen felt sure that her pounding blood in her ears could be heard by that unfamiliar presence which was now in the room with her. Even inhaling seemed like too much movement in the still of the dungeons.  
  
A hand gently brushed the hair from her neck, Gwen jumped with the suddenness of the touch. The figure had moved silently across the room and was now resting curling fingers on her shoulder form behind. Gwen tried to speak but her mouth was too dry to form any words. Her heart was racing still, but its urgency was no longer one of fear. She knew those hands; they felt just as she had thought they would. Turning slightly, she caught his smoky black eyes.  
  
The reason that she could no longer hear Snape reading his paper was not because some magical creature had killed him and come after her but because he had left it discarded in his chair and glided to her side. The air seemed to thicken between them and though Gwen wanted to break eye contact she found that she was unable to.  
  
Moments ticked slowly past, tension building like silken threads between them, turning into something palpable. Neither party could move, for to move would be to break the trance they had formed. Who knew what would come after this? Fear of what the unknown might hold was enough to paralyse them.  
  
Eventually, Snape regained control of his senses and made an abrupt lunge for the fireplace in front of them. It had originally been a lunge for those flushed, parted lips, but in the last instant his mind grasped a hold on his...other parts...and changed his body's course. Thank Merlin, Snape panted to himself as he rested his damp forehead on the cold stone. He licked his dry lips, willing his pulse to subside.  
  
He realised that Gwen was still in the room. He groaned, and not entirely from annoyance.  
  
Feeling very awkward indeed, especially when he realised his obvious distaste for the situation, Gwen looked around for something with which to make a dignified exit. She turned over a gold clock she had conjured earlier. Thank God, it was almost time for dinner. "I – I should probably go to dinner." She cursed showing her weakness with such an obvious stammer. Angry with herself, and almost in tears from shame, she ran out of the lab and through the dungeons to the great hall not stopping once to look back.  
  
Snape let out a shaky breath and slid to the floor. 


End file.
